Get access to in-depth analysis: Beyond the crockpots and face painting, Carnival races serve up high-level competition, with top-ranked juniors and former D-team skiers generating minimum point penalties.

By

October 19, 2005

Americans train in ‘the Icebox’ as Germany and Canada announce Soelden rostersThe U.S. Ski Team’s top giant slalom skiers trained Wednesday at Soelden, Austria, where the alpine World Cup season is set to begin this weekend with a pair of races on the Rettenbach glacier.

The men’s and women’s squads ran gates on ‘the Icebox’ a section of the mountain that is cast in seemingly perpetual shade.

Over on the race hill, crews were chopping up the snow and spraying it with water from a hose, hardening it for the upcoming races. A snowstorm is expected to move in to the area on Thursday, and could linger until Friday.

Other national teams are training at other Austrian glaciers, such as Pitztal and Stubai. Most will have arrived in Soelden by Thursday.

The women will race the first of their season’s 37 World Cup races on Saturday, and the men will follow on Sunday (they race 39 races this season).